Game of Life 1: Gameplay
by Higuchimon
Summary: [au: breeds] The Digital World is nothing but a game. Ichijouji Ken would never hack this game to give himself a win, but clearly his enemies have, when he finds some of the older Chosen have abilities that he's never dreamed possible. Clearly they hacked the game. There can't be any other explanation. At least not one that he'll accept.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Digimion Adventure 02  
 **Series Title:** Game of Life|| **Story Title:** Gameplay  
 **Characters:** Ken, Mimi, Ogremon, Chosen Children|| **Pairing:** N/A  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 2,627||story: 2,627  
 **Genre:** Adventure|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing Challenge, H5, three-shot; One Big Series Bingo, #006, three-shot; Advent 2015, day #3, post for one or more what-ifs; What-if Ogremon made a reappearance in 02?; Easter Egg Basket Advent, day #8, write a fic that includes at least 5 colors; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #42, 7,777 words  
 **Notes:** This is in my breeds AU, during the Kaiser's reign. This particular iteration of the breeds will be known as the **Game of Life** series (for now, unless/until I come up with a better title).  
 **Summary:** The Digital World is nothing but a game. Ichijouji Ken would never hack this game to give himself a win, but clearly his enemies have, when he finds some of the older Chosen have abilities that he's never dreamed possible. Clearly they hacked the game. There can't be any other explanation. At least not one that he'll accept.

* * *

Kaiser's fingers gripped the arms of his chair harder and harder, snarling words under his breath that few would've thought someone of his age knew. All of his attention focused on the screens in front of him, revealing information that he did not know if he should believe or if the Chosen wanted to play a game of their own with him.

"Replay," he ordered, raising his voice to issue the command. At once the monitors blurred and rewound, settling back into the situation he'd seen first not half an hour earlier.

He knew all their names, though he didn't very much _care_ about their names. He'd dug up all the information that he could over the last couple of weeks, needing to know who he should look out for.

There they sat, not just the five that he knew far too well, but three more, whom he'd seen at various points in the past. The blue-haired one – Kido Jou; the redhead who thought he was at least somewhat intelligent – Izumi Koushirou; and the girl who came from America, or so she said – Tachikawa Mimi.

They and their partners, Gomamon, Tentomon, and Palmon, all sat with them and his particular enemies, chatting. He'd listened only to see if any of their trivial gossip could offer useful information. Most of it seemed to be some kind of fairy tale, something about vampires and clowns.

"We haven't seen Ogremon in ages, though," Tachikawa's voice came through. "I wish I knew how to send him a message. I kind of miss him." She sighed a long sigh. "I want to know if there's been any sign of Leomon."

"If we see him, we'll let him know you want to talk," Motomiya Daisuke chirped up. Then he rubbed the back of his head, grinning a tad weakly. "Uh, what's Ogremon look like, anyway?"

Watching, Kaiser rolled his eyes. _Like an ogre, of course._ With one hand he reached out to divert one of the screens from replaying the scene, sending it instead to searching for the location of any Ogremon within a convenient location before he turned his attention back to what they'd done.

Their ridiculous blather meant little. As near as he could interpret their nonsense, they'd played a previous rendition of this Digital World game some years earlier. Kaiser didn't approve of that; this was his world and his game and no one else should have ever set foot here. But no matter how much it annoyed him, he couldn't prevent it.

It did explain why his towers affected their Digimon, though. The more recent additions – Motomiya, Inoue, Hida, Takaishi, and the younger Yagami – acquired the proper upgrades, those Digimentals, to overcome his domination over evolution. The others either weren't interested in playing on his level or couldn't afford long-term time away from whatever their mundane interests were.

But now the moment drew closer. When this wasn't just a recording, he'd sent some of his slaves to break up their happy little party. He didn't think he'd be able to capture any of them, but he didn't want them to have fun while he was around, either. So, two groups, one for those who could evolve via Digimentals and one for those who couldn't.

And waiting in the wings, for the pleasure it would give him, one more, for the Chosen themselves.

Everything went just the way that he'd presumed it would.

At first.

His slaves struck, luring out FlaDramon, Holsmon, Digmon, Pegasumon, and Nefertimon. That particular area didn't have one of his towers in it, which was why they'd chosen it for their little visit, of course. The second wave attacked once the evolved Digimon were far enough away not to be able to come for back-up, and he got a clear and good view of Togemon, Kabuterimon, and Ikkakumon.

Now came the final wave: half a dozen Digimon who surged up from the bushes they'd hid in to strike at the three humans who'd waited behind.

And now came the part he didn't believe and wanted to watch until he figured out how they'd done it.

"Our partners can't get back here!" Mimi declared, pulling herself closer to her companions. Instead of the fear the Kaiser expected, rage filtered into her voice. "And the others are too busy with their fights!"

Jou and Koushirou looked at one another, some kind of a silent message that Kaiser did not understand passing between them.

"Then we're going to have to do this ourselves." Kido Jou did not at all sound happy about this as he flexed his fingers. Nor did Koushirou, as he set his laptop out of the way.

"As far as I can tell, there's no one else in the area but us and them. Once those Rings are off, they won't remember much of what they saw," Koushirou told them.

Kaiser's lip curled at those words. He could see anything that he chose to see in this world. But if they weren't aware of that, it wasn't his problem.

He expected them to call for help from their friends in the real world, or to run away and hide from the scary monsters.

He didn't expect Kido Jou to _take off flying_. He wasn't as good as it as an AirDramon or a Unimon might've been, but the fact he did it at all shocked the Kaiser down to his core.

Then came something more: Izumi Koushirou, who had never shown himself as much more than a bookworm, with energy much like that of a Digimon attack shredding outwards from his fingertips. The attack came in the shape of a lion's head, and now Kaiser could hear what he said.

" _Fist of the Beast-Prince!_ "

Up in the skies, sapphire blue energy gathered around Kido Jou's clenched fist and he thrust it forward, a blue stream flowing outward. He didn't bother with an attack name, but just slashed his weapon against the Evil Rings wrapped around the Woodmon surging toward them.

With little more than two hits, the Rings shattered and fell off. The same thing happened to the ones that Izumi's attack hit. Both of them circled near Mimi, one in the skies and one on the ground. She kept her attention out while they fought, letting them know whenever a new enemy got too close to them.

When the whole battle ended, all three of them returned to where they'd been and did their best to look as if nothing at all had happened, as the other Chosen finished up their fights and returned to their little camping ground.

But the Kaiser had seen enough. He didn't understand everything that he'd seen, but he'd seen it all the same.

 _It should not be possible. Only Digimon have those abilities. And why them and not her as well?_ Surely if one of them could get these upgrades, or two of them could, then she could as well? Or did that have something to do with her origins now being in America, as opposed to Japan where she presumably had first come from?

Details _mattered_ in this situation. He had to figure out what they'd done and how he could put a stop to it, especially before anyone like Motomiya could do the same thing. The thought of that idiot flinging fireballs around willy-nilly didn't terrify the Kaiser, but it came as close to it as anything possibly could.

He needed information and he knew just how he could get it. If this Tachikawa Mimi hadn't had those particular improvements made to her, then she would be relatively easy to capture.

Kaiser looked up at a sudden soft chime from one of the screens and a smile slashed across his lips. _Ogremon found._

He stood on his feet a heartbeat later and stalked toward the exit, schemes and plans frothing in his ever-active mind.

Wormmon trailed along after him, letting out the tiniest of sighs as he did. Kaiser did not notice, but that wasn't surprising. In truth, Wormmon didn't mind. Better that Kaiser ignored him than ask him about something he didn't want to answer.

* * *

Ogremon knew the Chosen were in the Digital World again. He'd heard a lot of gossip about it, and about that so-called Digimon Kaiser that flounced around insisting that he ruled the world and using those Rings and Spirals of his. You could get a lot of information from taverns if you knew where to ask, and Ogremon did.

The very idea of this kid thinking that he could rule the world when Piemon's own firstborn still roamed around made him want to laugh. Sure, _that_ guy didn't want the job, but if anyone stood a chance of being able to pull it off, he was the one, not this ridiculous kid.

He wanted to chat with the kids. It had been a while since he'd seen them and he didn't like admitting that he'd missed them, sort of. Just a little, of course. So he made his way through the land until he got closer to where rumors spoke of the most recent action.

He'd seen plenty of those Evil Towers along the way, and managed to avoid some of the Digimon that had those Rings and Spirals on them.

 _You'd think this kid one of Devimon's brats or something,_ Ogremon grumped as he moved along. _What does he think he's doing, taking over Digimons' minds like that?_

At least Piemon and the Dark Masters hadn't done that. They'd never had any need to. When you had all of their power, brainwashing Digimon just wasn't worth the effort. Not when you could terrify them into doing what you wanted.

Silence fell all around him without warning. Ogremon didn't bother looking up; he jumped backward and slammed his bone club into the nearest bush, knocking off a small spray of leaves, and knocking out the Gazimon hidden within, scarlet eyes shimmering.

"What do you want?" Ogremon growled, taking a step to the side and raising his weapon again. It had been a while since he'd had a really good fight, but he knew he'd be having one in just a few seconds.

"It's very simple. I want _you_." Another Digimon pounded out of the woods, this one carrying a young human on their shoulder. Tyrannomon didn't even bother yelling out a challenge, instead coming to a halt when the rider stomped one foot.

Ogremon's lips wrinkled back. "You must be he Digimon Kaiser." He'd heard enough to tell who the kid was just from what he was doing. Today wasn't turning out to be one of his better days.

"That I am. And you are Ogremon." Digimon Kaiser folded his arms over his chest and gave Ogremon a penetrating look. "Now, are you the one who knows the Chosen Children?"

"So what if I am?" Ogremon decided he wasn't going to wait around to see just what the Kaiser wanted from him. Instead, he charged forward, club high, and swung. In that same moment, the Kaiser leaped forward, twisting around and landing lightly on the ground behind him. One motion of his hand and a whip cracked forward, striking against Ogremon's hand where he held his club.

That blow alone wasn't quite enough to get him to drop it, but he pulled away regardless.

"What was that for!?"

"You're going to help me get some answers, whether you want to or not. So either come along quietly, or else."

Ogremon didn't have to ask what 'or else' meant. Everyone who knew anything about the Kaiser knew what 'or else' would mean. He barely let the two sentences spoken process through his brain before he struck at the Kaiser again, ignoring the whip and hoping to take him down in one hit.

Something small flew through the air toward him and he raised up one arm to defend himself from it. Hard metal clamped down hard around his wrist and his eyes widened, a sudden wash of scarlet engulfing him.

"Wha-" Ogremon had no more time to say anything other than that. He simply… went away.

* * *

The Kaiser smirked in approval as Ogremon fell out of his battle stance and stood drooping, eyes blank and bright red, obedient to his new master's every word.

"Come along," he ordered. The sooner he got this done, the better. Who knew how long it would be until those three older ones came back here.

* * *

Mimi's heartbeat calmed down a little more with each passing moment. They'd done what they had to do, but she knew it bothered Jou and Koushirou as much as it bothered her. They ran the risk of Kaiser finding out about them any time they came to the Digital World, much less used any of their powers there.

No one knew if Evil Rings or Spirals would work on someone like Koushirou or Jou or Yamato. None of them wanted to find out if it would work on Yamato _at all_. So their safest course wasn't to do anything that might hint to the true nature of four of their group and hope that the Kaiser never found out.

 _Is that why he tried to attack us today? Did he guess? Does he know now?_

It wasn't possible, as far as she knew. Sure, Koushirou said that no one had been watching, but what if he'd been wrong?

Her shoulders tensed at a sudden tromping through the bushes. She'd heard those footsteps before, though it had been a long time.

Three years, in fact.

"Hey, what's that?" The words hadn't even properly fallen from Miyako's lips before something large, green, and wielding a huge club leaped from the concealing bushes.

If Mimi wished for full honesty – and she usually did – Ogremon also did not make proper use of any sort of deodorant and she suspected he bathed somewhat infrequently.

In other words, he reeked to high heaven.

He was also wearing one of the Kaiser's Evil Rings and that just made everything that much worse in her opinion. Even more so than the fact he was reaching for her.

"Ogremon! What do you think you're doing?" Jou shouted and Mimi caught a glimpse of his attack hovering around his fingers. She shook her head; it was one thing when they didn't have any other choices, but she wasn't going to put her friends in senseless danger.

"He's got a Ring on!" Takeru shouted, pointing to the Ring just visible against the green skin. "We're going to have to fight him!"

"Not today!" The Kaiser's voice rang out over everything. "I've got something more important to do." He stood on the shoulder of one of his enslaved Tyrannomon, and was he looking at Jou and Koushirou? Mimi knew a few words that weren't all that polite to use, but she still thought about it, even as Ogremon jumped back, huge hand wrapped around her, the other one knocking Togemon back before her partner could get close enough to help.

"Let me go!" Mimi struggled as hard as she could, beating her feet against Ogremon's side. "Let me go right now!"

"I'll think about it later. I've got a few questions and you're going to be the one who answers them for me. Ogremon, let's go."

Kaiser waved one hand imperially, he and his entourage fading away into the brush. Mimi could see Daisuke hurrying forward, his D-Terminal and D-3 in his hands, but another order from the Kaiser sent a half-dozen Digimon back toward them, covering their tracks.

Mimi kept on beating on Ogremon, to no avail, and hoped this didn't mean what she thought it did. But it would. It had to. After all, everything else was going wrong that day.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
 **Series Title:** Game of Life|| **Story Title:** Gameplay  
 **Characters:** Ken, Mimi, Ogremon, Chosen Children|| **Pairing:** N/A  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 2,635||story: 5,262  
 **Genre:** Adventure|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing Challenge, H5, three-shot; One Big Series Bingo, #006, three-shot; Advent 2015, day #3, post for one or more what-ifs; What-if Ogremon made a reappearance in 02?; Easter Egg Basket Advent, day #8, write a fic that includes at least 5 colors; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #42, 7,777 words  
 **Notes:** This is in my breeds AU, during the Kaiser's reign. This particular iteration of the breeds will be known as the **Game of Life** series (for now, unless/until I come up with a better title).  
 **Summary:** The Digital World is nothing but a game. Ichijouji Ken would never hack this game to give himself a win, but clearly his enemies have, when he finds some of the older Chosen have abilities that he's never dreamed possible. Clearly they hacked the game. There can't be any other explanation. At least not one that he'll accept.

* * *

"What in the world just happened?" Daisuke looked from Jou to Koushirou and back again, then shifted to Takeru and Hikari, realizing that all four of them looked ready to jump out of their skin. "Was that Ogremon?"

"Yes," Hikari said, twisting her fingers together. "We need to tell the others."

"We do?" Daisuke threw a look at Miyako and Iori, who looked every bit as confused as he did. "You guys get the feeling we're missing out on something?"

"It's something we didn't want anyone to know. It's very dangerous information," Takeru said, his fingers tightening around his D-3. "But Hikari's right. We need to get this sorted out and the fastest way is to get the others."

Miyako shook her head. "But their partners can't evolve with the Kaiser around."

Iori gave his own measured look to the older Chosen. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Now isn't a good time and this is not a good place," Jou said, pulling his D-Terminal out and starting to tap on it, while Koushirou opened his laptop and his fingers flew over the keys. "But I think you're going to find out whether we want you to or not."

Daisuke settled his hands on his hips and glared at every last one of them in turn, saving a couple of the stronger ones for Takeru. "So what is that you don't want us to know? And why don't you want us to know it?"

"It's not just not wanting you to know it. It's not wanting _him_ to know it," Hikari said. "Only it looks like he might've found out already and that's why he took her."

Miyako shook her head, fingers pressing against her scalp. "This isn't making any sense. Make sense, please!"

"You couldn't tell us because you didn't want the Kaiser to find out," Iori said, his voice slow and measured as he put scraps of information together.

"Yes. So what we're going to do is get the others here and start looking for Mimi, and then we're going to tell you. Telling you before they get here wouldn't be right, because it affects them, too," Jou said, looking up from the e-mail he'd just sent off.

Daisuke didn't stop giving angry looks. "You know how far away they're probably getting while we stand around here?"

"It won't matter once the others are here." Koushirou kept his attention on his typing. "It doesn't matter _now_ , actually. I can find them no matter how far they get."

"Mimi-san's Digivice, right?" Miyako asked, eyes brightening as she began to move closer to him. "You can track them!"

Koushirou's eyes flicked to Jou, then back to his laptop screen. "Yes, I can track them."

Daisuke wasn't the brightest when it came to school subjects – mostly because he hadn't yet found anything that genuinely caught his attention enough for him to want to focus on it – but he saw that look and while he couldn't figure out what it meant, he could read the 'sure, let's go with that' content from space.

As much as it annoyed him, they weren't going to tell anything until the others got there. While seeing all of the Chosen together – well, all of them minus one – thrilled him, he couldn't help but worry about what the Kaiser had in mind for Mimi-san and Ogremon. Fighting friends, even friends he hadn't met yet, wasn't his favorite part about being one of the Chosen Children. He didn't think it ever would be.

* * *

"All I want are answers," the Kaiser said, staring down at Mimi. He had to remain mounted on his servant's shoulder to do this, but he didn't care. Advantage was advantage, any way that one could get it.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything?" Mimi snapped back. Her struggles hadn't eased at all from the first moment when Ogremon grabbed her. He thought she would tire out soon enough. Struggling meant little when she just couldn't get away in the first place.

"I think you're going to tell me anything that I want to know." Kaiser folded his arms and glowered down at her. "Because if you don't, I would thank you to remember that I have your friend Ogremon here, and I can have him do anything that I want. I've heard that Digimon can be reborn."

His lip curled at that. If there was anything that said this was nothing but a game, that alone would do it. Real life didn't get reborn like that, all thoughts of reincarnation aside. But these creatures just respawned and that was it.

He continued, not wanting her to get ideas about resisting him. "It wouldn't be hard at all for me to have my other slaves delete him. Then I can find this 'Village of Beginnings'. What would happen if I crushed his egg?"

He honestly didn't know. But the idea interested him and he made a note to find out when he had a chance, once he'd settled all of this with the previous player upgrades.

Tachikawa Mimi pulled back, eyes wide and full of a deep rage that he'd never seen in someone else before. "You're a monster!"

"Whether I am or not isn't the point." He leaned forward, hand closing on the haft of his whip. "I saw what two of your friends did fighting against my slaves earlier." One flick of his hand brought up the recorded imagery of Jou and Koushirou fighting as if they were Digimon. Her eyes widened and darkened even more and he nodded to himself. He knew he was on the right track. "I want to know how they did that. What did they do to upgrade their avatars in this world?"

Now confusion touched her features and she shook her head. "What? I don't understand."

Kaiser jumped down to stand in front of her, heat burning all through him. "This game. Digital World game." He gestured abruptly. "I saw their upgrades and what they could do. I presume you played some kind of older variation of it and that's why you have your Digimon who can't evolve around my power. But how did they get _that_ ability? Why can they use it?"

Mimi shook her head, brow furrowed. "You think the Digital World is a game?"

Kaiser's gaze hardened. "Don't try to tell me that it isn't. Just tell me what it is that I want to know: how did they get those upgrades? Why don't _you_ have them? Do the other 'older' ones have them as well?"

She still kept shaking her head and he didn't think she was just telling him no now. "The Digital World's not a game. It's _real_."

His lips thinned. "If you don't want to tell me, then I'll have to find other methods. I can get your own partner if I must. Or I can just go ahead and kill this Ogremon if that's what it takes. I've never attempted to force the truth out of someone but I'm certain I can succeed at it. But I _will_ know the answers."

He'd stopped moving away from the Chosen after a rough half hour of travel, making certain that they weren't close to his ase. Even with the way that it moved, he didn't want to take the chance they'd figure out where it was. He had too much he was doing there to take that chance.

If he waited too long, they'd probably find him in some fashion. He could keep her Digivice's signal blanked out by his own, at least for a short while, which would help make certain they couldn't find them. He would get his answers before they found her.

He didn't want to take her to the fortress. This wasn't by any means meant as a long-term hostage situation. He wanted his answers and that was it.

She raised her head, a steel glare in her eyes. "I told you already. The Digital World's not a game and those aren't 'upgrades' by any means."

Of course. He would power through this. Perhaps whatever answers she did have would make sense by game terminology. "Then what is it?"

Again she shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you."

Kaiser hissed, whip raising and lashing out against Ogremon's ear. His slave didn't move so much as a hand's breadth. "You don't have a choice. Tell me or I crush him. I've got no use for him aside from dealing with _you_." He leaned forward just a fraction more, voice dropping down a little more. "This is all because of you. If you weren't his 'friend', then I wouldn't have him right now. Do you understand that?"

"I didn't make you do this!" Mimi retorted. "You did it because you're a horrible person!"

"Perhaps I am." Kaiser shrugged, not caring about her opinion. "But that won't help him if I decide to finish him altogether. So again: how did all of this happen? I will find out. Someone knows and someone will tell me. It may not even be you. But it can be up to you how many people get hurt before I find out what I want to know."

He could see his words digging deeper into her. Just what he wanted. She shifted in Ogremon's grip, wet her lips, and looked at him.

"No. I'm not going to tell you."

* * *

Taichi's fist hit a tree so hard that half of it came out of the ground. Daisuke couldn't help but stare in disbelief. He knew his senior was strong, but this was more than he'd ever seen before.

"Bad enough that he's got Ogremon with a Ring," Taichi growled. "What's he taking Mimi for?"

"Because we had to use our power," Jou said. He sounded much calmer about all of this than Daisuke would've thought. Though something about the way his lips moved made Daisuke want to look closer at them. Had Jou always talked in such a way that his teeth showed like that?

And had they always been that sharp? At least those two front ones…

Yamato rested a hand on Taichi's shoulder. "We did our best. Mimi's tough. She's not going to just tell him anything, not without a fight. So we've got time to get there before it's too late, and if he finds out more, we can do it on _our_ terms, not his."

Taichi looked back at him, a haunted little smile on his lips. "I guess you're right." He touched his chin for a moment. "Guess you don't have to knock sense into me this time."

"Don't think I won't if I don't have to." Yamato tapped him on the forehead, a softness in his eyes. "We're going to have to scare the living hell out of him." His gaze moved over to Jou. "And we're the best for that."

Jou nodded, and while Daisuke still didn't know what they were talking about in detail, he _knew_ teeth weren't supposed to look like that.

"Do you think you guys could finally tell us what's going on?" Miyako snapped. "This is _really_ getting me mad!"

Koushirou cleared his throat. "We do need to tell them. I've been running tests since they first got their Digimentals and I'm almost certain about who is and who isn't a breed."

The three younger Chosen all looked at each other, then back to their seniors.

"A what?" Three voices chorused, and Daisuke kept on going. "If you're going to tell us, then can we do it while we're looking for the Kaiser?"

"He's right on that much," Jou agreed. Then, as if nothing at all could be more natural, he lifted himself into the air. "Gomamon, are you ready?"

Gomamon wriggled, showing no more sign that there was anything unusual going on than if this happened every day of the week, and leaped up into Jou's arms. "Yup! Man, it's been a while since we did this!"

Yamato looked toward Gabumon. Their partners had all turned up not long after they'd arrived here, ready to join in the hunt for Mimi and the Digimon Kaiser. His Digivice gleamed in his hand and Gabumon nodded.

The evolution to Garurumon Daisuke expected. What he did not expected at all was Yamato also rising up in the air.

"What in the world are you guys doing?!" Miyako's cry fell hard and fast on the heels of his own. "This is just...just… just like you're Digimon!"

Yamato and Jou, with Sora now hovering beside them, all looked at each other. Then Sora spoke. "That's because we are. Half-Digimon, for the most part."

Daisuke's jaw worked. Miyako's eyes rounded, her mouth open but nothing at all coming from it. Iori's brow furrowed.

"How is that possible?" He was the first one to form an actual sentence after that little bombshell.

"Uh, well..." Most of the others looked as if this wasn't something they wanted to talk about, but Jou fidgeted the least, moving forward through the air.

"For right now, let's just say that it is a thing that can happen between humans and Digimon, and sometimes Digimon and Digimon, but it's _not_ something that happens regularly. It's rare to the point that as far as we know, only the four of us are the actual results of it." He gestured to himelf, Sora, Yamato, and Koushirou.

Koushirou cleared his throat and nodded toward the small group of younger Chosen there. "Six now. But I think we should discuss this on the way. I doubt the Kaiser is going to be watching us for information when he's trying to get it out of Mimi."

Sora laughed, though it didn't sound much like a _pleased_ laugh. "He's not going to get that much out of her. She's as stubborn as a rock."

Palmon folded her leafy arms over her chest. "She's as stubborn as a plant!"

"That's right." Sora nodded, then floated down a little. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure!" Palmon launched herself into the air, getting comfortable in Sora's arms. "Let's go!"

Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori all stared even harder at one another. What had started out as a typical day for the Chosen, for the most part, now seemed to have become something even more complicated and confusing than any of them could ever have imagined.

"So, um, part Digimon?" Daisuke asked as he got on Raidramon's back and followed the others. "What else do we not know about you guys?"

"Probably more than we could ever think to tell you and most of it you really don't want to know in the first place," Yamato said, gliding through the air not that far from Garurumon as he galloped along. "But what you need to know is this: as soon as we figured out what the Kaiser was up to with his Rings and then the Spirals, we made up our minds we didn't want him knowing about us. It's too dangerous. You saw what it was like when he had Agumon."

Greymon shuddered and nodded, his voice coming rolling out of his chest. "If he had Yamato or Sora or Koushirou or Jou, it would be even worse than that."

"What about us?" Miyako asked, swooping in closer. "You said two of us..."

"If all of the calculations that I've done are correct, and I've been working on them ever since we found out you were Chosen Children as well, then you and Daisuke have some measure of Digimon blood in you as well," Koushirou said. Sudden silence fell among them all.

Daisuke squared his shoulders and stared ahead of them. "You know, my sister's always said I was some kind of a monster. Man, I can't wait to tell her that she's right."

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Author:** Higuchimon  
 **Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
 **Series Title:** Game of Life|| **Story Title:** Gameplay  
 **Characters:** Ken, Mimi, Ogremon, Chosen Children|| **Pairing:** N/A  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 2,515||story: 7,777  
 **Genre:** Adventure|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing Challenge, H5, three-shot; One Big Series Bingo, #006, three-shot; Advent 2015, day #3, post for one or more what-ifs; What-if Ogremon made a reappearance in 02?; Easter Egg Basket Advent, day #8, write a fic that includes at least 5 colors; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #42, 7,777 words  
 **Notes:** This is in my breeds AU, during the Kaiser's reign. This particular iteration of the breeds will be known as the **Game of Life** series (for now, unless/until I come up with a better title).  
 **Summary:** The Digital World is nothing but a game. Ichijouji Ken would never hack this game to give himself a win, but clearly his enemies have, when he finds some of the older Chosen have abilities that he's never dreamed possible. Clearly they hacked the game. There can't be any other explanation. At least not one that he'll accept.

* * *

Mimi struggled against Ogremon's grip but no matter how hard she tried, couldn't get enough leverage to escape. He wasn't hurting her; Kaiser wanted her able to talk. But she still couldn't get free and even if she had, she couldn't get Ogremon's Ring off of him.

"If you're not going to tell me anything, then I've no reason to keep you _or_ him," Kaiser declared. Mimi tossed her head in defiance.

"You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you!" Kaiser thought this world was a game. The thought of everything they'd been through three years earlier, all of the fear and pain and anger and the friends they'd made and the people that they'd lost being something done for _fun_ ignited a flame of fury inside of her.

Kaiser smiled a very terrifying smile. "Why don't you try me, then?" He raised one hand, snapped his fingers, and Ogremon tossed her to a nearby Meramon. This wasn't at all the most comfortable Digimon to have gripping one, but she had other things on her mind. "Better do it fast, before I lose my patience and have Tyrannomon finish this worthless pest off."

"He's not worthless! He's my friend!" Granted, she had yet to introduce Ogremon to the concept of regular bathing, but she'd get to it, now that they'd met one another again. "Leave him alone!"

"Answer the question."

Tyrannomon drew in a deep breath and Mimi knew enough about that Digimon to know that the next moment would see a fiery explosion. It might not be enough to take Ogremon out right away, but it would hurt him enough that a second blast would end him altogether.

 _He's going to do it. He really is._

"I… they..." Mimi bit her lip. She didn't want to let the secret of the others out. But to save Ogremon…

Tyrannomon's head tilted back. His glowing red eyes rested on Ogremon.

"They're part Digimon!" Mimi blurted out. She hoped they'd forgive her. But if the Kaiser already knew and just wanted confirmation… she didn't know. But it was all she could do.

Kaiser gestured, freezing Tyrannomon in his tracks. Then he stepped closer to her.

"What did you say?"

She hated herself for it, but what else could she possibly do? She swallowed and stared at him. "I said, they're part Digimon. It's not an 'upgrade' or a 'bonus' or whatever. It's in their blood."

For a few mind-numbing seconds she didn't know what he would do. He stared at her blankly before a cold, broken laugh stumbled from his lips.

"How much of an idiot do you think I am?"

 _Is it possible to be a hundred and fifty percent idiot?_

"That's not even possible. A nice try to save this Digimon, but lying isn't going to do you any good. Tyrannomon! Take him out!"

"No!"

"Sanctuary Bind!"

Two cries and three words wove around one another, even as the golden rope formed by Nefertimon and Pegasumon bound Tyrannomon, keeping him from attacking Ogremon. Lighdramon leaped up from beyond a stand of silver-leaved trees, cobalt-blue lightning crackling from him as he tackled Ogremon to get the Evil Ring off of him.

"What are you doing? No! Stop!" Kaiser snarled, hands waving in impotent fury. Then he ducked, eyes widening behind his visor. "If you're not going to tell me how you got those upgrades, then you shouldn't _use them_ on me!"

"I don't believe I heard that," Yamato said from where he stood, casually leaning against a tree, watching as Garurumon snapped at some of Kaiser's slaves, working to get their Rings or Spirals off. "I mean, Mimi already told you what it was. We all heard her." He flicked a glance toward her and she ducked her head, still ashamed the words had even come from her. "And you want to think this is a game."

Kaiser leaped back, finding his own place to perch high in a tree, whip now in his hand. "Tell me the truth!"

"You've already heard it," Koushirou said, stepping forward with Kabuterimon. "Just because you choose not to believe it doesn't mean that it isn't the truth."

"No!" The Kaiser shook his head to the point one or two of his enemies suspected it in danger of falling off. "It's not possible."

"It is." Now Sora hovered next to Jou, both of them in clear view of the Kaiser, their evolved partners with them. "The Digimon are living creatures, just like humans are. This is a different world, not a computer game."

"What kind of a computer game has you _download yourself_ into it?" Daisuke wanted to know from where he kept an eye on Raidramon's battling. "Seriously, that's just stupid."

Kaiser snarled something none of them wanted to understand. "I'll find out what you're keeping from me, and you'll regret it. _All_ of you. I'm going to win this game and you can't stop me."

"Aside from this not being a game, we are going to stop you," Iori pointed out in his most reasonable voice. "Because that's what we were Chosen to do."

Kaiser's only answer was to whistle and leap up on the AirDramon that came soaring past. He snapped out an order for Wormmon to follow him, but no one could see where the little green Digimon might have been.

Raidramon's lightning flashed hard and strong against the Ring on Ogremon one more time, and the black metal shattered into dust. Ogremon blinked and reached up to rub his eyes.

"Uh… what happened? Last thing I remember is… fighting the Kaiser?" He blinked again and spied Mimi. "Whoa! Where did you come from?"

"That's kind of a long story," Mimi laughed, bouncing over now that the Meramon holding her had also been freed and thus freed her. "But it's been a while, hasn't it?" She embraced him without fear, and without regard for his body odor. Some things friends just accept about one another.

Most of the time.

* * *

Kaiser stalked into his fortress, his boots stomping harder and harder with each step. They had to think him an idiot of the worst order! Expecting him to believe all of that nonsense!

 _It doesn't matter,_ he tried to reassure himself and knew that he wasn't succeeding. Something about what they said worked deeper into him with each moment. They'd _believed_ what they said, that was it. Both about the Digital World not being a game and about those Chosen being part Digimon.

Kaiser assigned himself no particular special gifts aside from being absolutely perfect in every kind of way. He didn't expect others to lie to him, mostly because they should be too terrified of him to do so.

But now he threw himself into his chair and refused to admit that he sulked. He'd barely gotten anything done at all today. A few new territories taken by fresh towers, but that was it. And he'd had such high hopes too.

A small beep sounded. He looked up, expecting more trouble. What else could have gone wrong today?

On the screens, a single line of text unfolded itself.

 _To help you with your work._

Kaiser frowned and reached out to touch one of his keyboards, expecting this odd unwanted screen saver to vanish. It did, but what replaced it confused him even more.

Much like those created by the Digimon Analyzer that he'd learned to use via his Dark Digivice, a profile revealed itself on the screens. No, profiles: each one showed a different person.

Izumi Koushirou, Takenouchi Sora, Kido Jou, and Ishida Yamato. Instead of the usual information one might expect, such as their grade in school, blood type, and partner Digimon, other words unfolded there for his information.

 _Digimon names. Attacks. Levels. Their… Digimon parent… parents._ He stared at the listing for Izumi. Well, wasn't _that_ interesting. Who would have dreamed that a Digimon could look so human?

The more he read over the information, the more he began to accept the truth of it all. It was too detailed for someone to have invented it on the spot. There were even videos attached from years earlier, showing them in the use of their powers.

 _I don't know who sent this and I don't care. It doesn't matter how they got those powers. I know they have them now._ Kaiser let himself smile a dark, rich smile. Game or not, he was the one true ruler of the Digimon, and that meant that these half-breeds belonged to him just as much as any other Digimon did. The details made no difference.

He leaned back in his chair and started at the beginning, with Takenouchi Sora's profile: or that of Aikoumon, as she was listed there. Aikoumon, Jitsumon, Oushimon, and Chiguumon.

As he liked to think of them as the days flowed by, his future personal slaves and bodyguard.

* * *

"Is everyone all right?" Taichi asked, checking them all over even as he spoke.

"Yeah, we're all good," Daisuke replied, rubbing his shoulders. "But now what are we going to do?"

"Have a very long talk about who we all are," Yamato replied. "And what we're going to do about the Kaiser at least knowing, whether or not he believes it yet."

"I don't think he does," Mimi said, Palmon held in one arm with Ogremon just a step or two behind her. "He looked so convinced that this world's a game."

Taichi's eyes sparked with shivers of rage at that, and something else as well. Yamato caught his attention and shook his head a small fraction.

"Let's get out of here first. He'll probably be busy putting himself back together for a bit so we have some time to work with," Taichi said.

Koushirou nodded. "Actually, there's something that I've wanted to try and now might be a good time." He tapped his laptop. "During Vamdemon's invasion of Earth three years ago, I discovered a shielding program Gennai put on my computer. It worked very well to protect my parents at the time, and I've been working on it the last couple of months to see if I could adjust it for use here." A small smile touched his lips. "I think I've figured it out. It should keep us safe from any of the Kaiser's spying."

Miyako's eyes lit up at every word he spoke. "You can do that kind of thing? Really? How does it work?"

The two of them kept up the techno-talk until they reached the same area the Chosen gathered in earlier. Koushirou settled down and opened up his laptop, fingers dancing with practiced ease over the keys. At first nothing seemed to happen at all, but then Miyako squealed, violet hair bouncing as she pointed to the trees around them.

"I can see it! Kind of!"

Closer inspection revealed just what she meant: in between the trees and bushes there hovered a sort of pale stretched out bubble, difficult to see through, and impossible to touch.

"I don't know how long it will last, so let's get this taken care of fast," Koushirou said, Tentomon now settled behind him. "Myself, Yamato, Sora, and Jou are all children of Digimon. We weren't aware of this until about halfway through our own adventure. The more time that someone with Digimon blood spends in the Digital World, the sooner and stronger their power awakens. We all have Digimon names as well." He bent his head as if introduction. "Oushimon."

"Jitsumon," Jou said, and once more Daisuke noticed how strong and sharp his teeth looked.

"Aikoumon," Sora chipped in.

"Chiguumon," Yamato spoke last. "That's just the surface of it all, though." He gestured to everyone except Koushirou. "We've got types, just like the usual Digimon do. The three of us? We're Virus-types."

"A born Digimon's type is dependent upon their Digital parent," Koushirou explained. "All of their parents were Virus types."

"What about you?" Iori wondered, giving him a strange, thoughtful look.

Koushirou looked back at him. "My mother is a Vaccine Digimon. My father is a Data Digimon. I'm considered both Vaccine and Data, though I somewhat favor the Data side."

"You're an _actual_ Digimon?" Miyako stared at him, eyes getting wider by the moment. "How'd that happen? I mean..." She turned red, ducking her head. "Koushirou-sempai, I..."

He shook his head. "No, I understand. It's not something one comes across every day of the week. But my father is Leomon."

Miyako drew in a breath, her lips parting, but before she could ask the question on her mind, Koushirou shook his head one more time. "I'd rather not say anything else about my family right now. There are more important things to deal with. Like you and Daisuke."

"Oh, yeah!" Daisuke didn't exactly bounce around but he looked within a hair's breadth of doing so. "You said that we're part Digimon? Not really sure how I could be, but what did you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Koushirou tapped his laptop. "My Digimon Analyzer can detect those of Digimon blood, but it can take some time if that blood hasn't activated yet. Both of you are very close to it. Until then, I can't be certain of your lineage or abilities, but I would be very careful over the next few weeks. It could happen at any time."

Miyako bit her lip, a thousand questions in her bright brown eyes. "I don't understand how it could be either. I mean, I've got baby pictures of me at home and everything."

"It can be confusing. They might not even know. But I wouldn't ask your parents just yet. You should find out more about yourself first," Sora suggested, settling down next to Miyako, Piyomon and Hawkmon both watching their partners. "And whatever it is you can do, we'll all help you learn how to do it." She smiled warmly at the other Chosen of Love. "If you can fly, I'll help you learn how."

"How is it that you can fly at all?" Iori wanted to know. "Which Digimon could give you that ability?"

Yamato flicked one hand without warning, a sharp-edged blade appearing in his grip a second later. "Our sires. Like his blood gave me these." He raised his other hand and a mirror image blade appeared there.

Daisuke leaned closer, frowning. "Is that the Crest of Friendship?" He pointed at the carving on the hilts. "Cause it looks like it is."

"It is." Yamato flipped his swords around to give a better look. "It shows they're mine. As opposed to _his_."

"His?" Daisuke tilted his head up. "I mean, you said, but…"

"Sire, not father," Yamato corrected. "His blood is why I can do this." Yamato flicked his hands again and the swords vanished. "Piemon. Leader of the Dark Masters."

"Devimon," Sora sighed out the name. "The first real evil Digimon that we fought."

Jou scraped one finger on the ground before him. "Vamdemon."

The other names hadn't been familiar, but that one sent shivers through them all. Daisuke blinked and grinned.

"I knew those looked like fangs!"

 **The End**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.

 **Note 2:** There will be a sequel in due course. That one will be 20 chapters long and will involve Ken learning more about himself, about the breeds, and how all of this fits together.


End file.
